


From Here, You Can See All the Way to Infinity

by xahra99



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Big Brothers, Canon Compliant, Companionable Snark, Fanart, Gen, Little Sisters, Sarcasm, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22135417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xahra99/pseuds/xahra99
Summary: 'Tradition is peer pressure from dead people'When M'Baku comes to Birnin Zana to take his place on the Council, Shuri is sent to welcome him.This goes about how you'd expect.Written for the prompt 'Shuri & M'Baku, snark'
Relationships: M'Baku & Shuri (Marvel)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	From Here, You Can See All the Way to Infinity

Shuri leans across the railing and scans the concourse of Birnin Zana Central Station. 

The huge hall is crowded with commuters. The tiled floor is a carnival riot of colour and texture. The scent of a dozen different kind of food mixed with woodsmoke, ozone and red _otjize_ paste drifts up to tantalise her nose. 

She checks the concourse clock. The clock is a sculpture designed by a River Tribe artist, one of her mother’s favourites. The face is a ridged disc covered in pure gold leaf, pierced with patterns of vibranium studs which glow to mark the minutes. The escapement is fashioned into a fanciful grasshopper. The emerald green insect skitters on top of the disc, where it blinks and grinds its mandibles at irregular intervals. Shuri has waited long enough to suspect the pattern repeats randomly. She finds the clock obsolete and creepy. The dial only confirms what she already suspects.

M’Baku is late.

Shuri is half-way through her mental redesign of the station building (sandstone columns with bands of topaz neon and miniature waterfalls, no clock) when she finally sees M’Baku below her, heading in the wrong direction. She pushes off the railing and goes to meet him.

It takes her a few minutes to climb down to his level. The concourse is crowded, but Shuri can’t lose him. M’Baku is a head taller than most men, and his monochrome furs and knobkerrie stand out even among the diverse Wakandan tribesfolk.

Shuri slips through the crowds like an eel. When she reaches M’Baku she reaches up (and up some more) and taps the Jabari leader’s shoulder. “Hey! Killer Gorilla!” She holds out her hand for a fist bump.

M’Baku stares her down until her smile fades. “Show some respect, girl,” he growls, pulling at his fur collar. “I left my family to be here. And it is far too hot.”

“O Great Gorilla,” Shuri sketches a bow. “Your Highness Lord M’Baku. Why don’t you try losing some of those furs?”

“It’s tradition.”

Shuri grins. “Tradition is peer pressure from dead people.”

M’Baku sighs theatrically. “Why are you here, Princess? Don’t you have something more important to do? Like building more of your ill-advised devices?”

Shuri’s grin fades. “I’m your guide. Against my will, I might add.”

“I don’t need a guide.”

“It’s meant to be an honour. You’re the first Jabari leader ever to sit upon the Tribal Council. Behold, a representative of Wakanda’s royal family arrives to show you to your quarters. I, Shuri, daughter of Ramonda and T’Chaka, sister of His Highness King T’Challa, the Black Panther, welcome you to Birnin Zana. And since you ask, I would much rather be doing something else. Something more interesting. So let’s make this quick.”

“Agreed,” M’Baku says.

Shuri points to the platforms. “Let’s take a train.”

“The Jabari do not need trains,” says M’Baku, “I walked here.”

“Then you must be very tired,” retorts Shuri. “Trains are quicker. Unless you want to spend more time with me?”

They take the train. M’Baku gives up his seat for a little old lady with an ebony cane. The grandmother smiles and tells M’Baku he is a nice young man. Shuri laughs so much she nearly chokes. Her chuckles earn her a disapproving look from the grandmother.

It’s nearly sunset by the time they reach M’Baku’s apartment. It’s a sky garden tower like a squat baobab tree with an enormous thatched roof and a good view of the mountains. 

Shuri pushes up her sleeves as they wait for the elevator. “I nearly forgot!” she exclaims. Her arms are covered with stacked kimoyo bead bracelets. She slips a set over her wrist and hands the beads to M’Baku. “It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this.”

M’Baku looks puzzled, but he takes the beads anyway. He turns the marbled grey and white bracelet over in his hands.

“Kimoyo beads,” Shuri explains. “So my brother can contact you.”

“I know what kimoyo beads are, girl.” M’Baku holds the bracelet up to the light. The beads look like peanuts in his large hands. “Just because we Jabari don’t care about technology doesn’t mean we don’t know what it is. But why do I need them? If I need to speak to T’Challa we will talk face to face.”

“The real question is why anybody would want to speak to you at all.” Shuri grins and shrugs. “But you never know.”

M’Baku’s retort is interrupted by the arrival of the elevator. They get inside. The elevator is panelled with stamped brass, with round mirrors on the wall. Shuri smiles at her golden reflection as M’Baku slides the beads over his hand. She stabs a button and the elevator slides smoothly upwards. 

“Princess.” M’Baku raises his voice.

Shuri winces. “Don’t you have an indoor voice?”

“This _is_ my indoor voice.” M’Baku barks like a gorilla. The sound echoes round the small space. Shuri yelps as she covers her ears.

M’Baku grins. “The Jabari like the high places,” he says. “We are not made for indoors.”

Shuri shoots him a glare as the elevator slides to a stop. She heads across the landing without waiting for M’Baku to follow and swipes her kimoyo beads across the lock. The door opens. Shuri gestures M’Baku through. 

“These are your quarters,” she says, setting the air-conditioning on maximum strength while M’Baku prowls the room. Despite the high ceiling and simple decoration, the room is uncomfortably warm. Amber light lances through the window and reflects from the polished packed-earth floor. The whitewashed walls are striped with terracotta. Painted black spots circle every door and window. Shuri heads towards the only interior door and clears her throat.

“This is what we call a _bathroom_ ,” she says, flushing the toilet for punctuation.

“I know that, girl. We are not savages.”

Shuri raises one eyebrow, pushes open the sliding doors and steps out onto the balcony. The over-hanging thatch shades her, but it’s still hot. The balcony is a smooth slab of sandstone rock without railings to spoil the view. Shuri settles on the edge, legs dangling. Nothing visible protects her from a fall of fifty storeys. “High enough for you?”

M’Baku follows her cautiously. “Take care, Princess. It’s a long way down.”

Shuri smiles at him and pushes off with her hands. The building’s invisible force field catches her before she has dropped more than a hands-breadth. She rolls over, laughing like a hyena at M’Baku’s horrified face.

“What? Don’t the Jabari have hard-light barriers? You can’t fall from here.”

M’Baku dips his hands into the force field. Blue light shimmers across his skin. “Climb up. Did you just bring me out here to play tricks?”

Shuri rolls onto her front and rests her pointed chin on her hands. “Not exactly,” she says. She’s timed their arrival to perfection. “Look. This is Birnin Zana.”

She waves a hand. The sun’s rays drop a few millimetres, and the city ignites .

Above Shuri’s sprawled form, the setting sun reflects from a thousand skyscraper windows. Below her, pyramids and ziggurats, futuristic tents and high-rises strung with vines sprawl down the banks of the burning Omo river. A troupe of monkeys chitter from the low thatched roof. The primal smell of the river rises through the evening air. Shuri wrinkles her nose.

“What do you think?” she asks M’Baku. “Impressed?”

M’Baku shrugs. “Your city is pretty enough. But it’s not real.”

Shuri frowns and rolls over. She’s usually the smartest person in any room and she doesn’t like to be puzzled. “Explain.”

“The earth underfoot,” M’Baku says. “The sun on your back. A spear in your hand. These things are real.” He waves a hand over the city. “This…is a glittering illusion.”

“It’s real.”

“Then see what happens when you turn off the power.”

Shuri’s brow furrows. “That won’t happen.” She hopes she isn’t wrong, at least not right at this moment. Even hard light barriers don’t work without power. It’s a long way to fall. T’Challa might be able to save her in time, but she doubts M’Baku can.

“Oh?” M’Baku settles down beside her on the edge of the balcony with one knee clutched to his chest “How so?”

“I won’t let it.” Shuri’s hands curl into fists. “I’ll fight.”

M’Baku nods. “I don’t doubt it. But you can fight with all your heart and still be beaten. Even great fighters can lose. Just ask your brother.”

Shuri grimaces. “What’s your problem?”

“No problem,” he says.

Shuri shakes her head. “I get that you’re Jabari and you all have a massive chip on your shoulder. But you still helped. Why do you doubt us?”

“Your technology is...” M’Baku pauses. “Intriguing. But you’re too young. You both are.”

“You’re ten years younger than my brother.”

“I’m still older than you, girl.”

“But you act like a grumpy old man.”

“And you are like a little _tolokoshe_. A trickster, with your beads and your jokes and your dangerous technology.”

Shuri frowns. “I’m no _tolokoshe._ ”

“Says the girl on thin air. You’re racing to a future you do not understand. Taking Wakanda with you.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

“So you say,” M’Baku looks unimpressed. “The Jabari do not shun technology, whatever you might think. But we do have concerns over who controls it. Valid concerns. Your outreach program is fine. But this continent has a history of colonizers taking what they want. We will not let them steal Wakanda. But what happens when we cannot stop them? If we’re not careful, the next world war will be fought upon Wakandan soil.”

Shuri looks down and bites her lip. She rises to her knees. M’Baku extends his knobkerrie and Shuri takes the handle and pulls herself to the ledge. “That’s a worst-case scenario,” she says quietly.

“Maybe.” M’Baku rises to his feet. “But with power comes responsibility. Isn’t that what your colonisers say? We have the power to help the world, yes. But if they come to depend on us, that arrangement weakens us both. At least on the Council I have a hope of controlling the process.”

“So that’s why you came to Birnin Zana.”

“Someone has to keep an eye on you,” agrees M’Baku. “You four tribes rely on vibranium too much. It weakens you. Now let’s go inside. It’s too hot here.”

M’Baku has already found the chiller by the time Shuri reaches the doors. She slides the panels shut as he pours two glasses of water, cracks open an ice tray and dumps a handful of ice cubes in each cup. Ice cubes and water spatter the floor, but the faux-earth surface absorbs the liquid without trace. M’Baku drains his own drink dry in one swallow. He hands Shuri a glass and pours himself another.

“Want more?” He nods at Shuri’s glass.

Shuri sips as she thinks. “I’m fine.”

M’Baku basks for a moment in the cool air drifting from the chiller. Then he firmly closes the door and flops down on the couch, bouncing just a little. Springs creak and M’Baku grimaces. “Too soft,” he says. “Thanks for your help, Princess. You can go now.”

His words are clearly meant as a dismissal, but Shuri isn’t listening. She walks over to M’Baku’s couch and pauses with her drink still in her hand. Moisture beads on the outside of the glass and trickles down her fingers.

“You ‘re wrong,” she says.

M’Baku raises an eyebrow. He leans back on the couch, voice lazy. “How so?”

Shuri sets her glass down. “You’re wrong about the tribes,” she says. “At least we are not hypocrites.”

M’Baku straightens, scowling.

“Your Jabari wood is strengthened by vibranium,” Shuri continues. “It leaches into the soil. Even in the mountains. Your highlands are far colder than they should ever be. Who controls that, Gorilla King?”

“Our Jabari wood was handed to us by Hanuman himself,” M’Baku’s gaze darkens. “Watch your mouth.”

Shuri realizes she has committed a cultural faux pas. Worse, she did not mean to. “I apologize. I don’t wish to give offence.”

M’Baku stares at her. “Really?” he says sarcastically.

“Unintentionally, that is,” Shuri continues. She does not wish to give M’Baku the wrong impression. “My offences are entirely intentional, I assure you.”

M’Baku grins. “I like you, little _tokoloshe_. You remind me of my cousin. Not all _tokoloshes_ are bad. Just mischievous. It is not your fault your parents did not teach you our traditions.”

Shuri feels compelled to defend T’Chaka and Ramonda in their absence. “My parents taught me courtesy. And honour.”

“Did they? You don’t even know our tribe’s ways.”

“Then I should learn. Let’s set something up. A cultural exchange.”

“Like your outreach?” M’Baku stretches lazily with an ostentatious yawn that displays all his teeth. “Slow down, princess. We are Jabari. We do things in our own way, and in our own time. But somebody must talk some sense into your heads.”

He reaches up to ruffle Shuri’s hair. She scowls and swats his hand away. “I don’t need _two_ brothers. Just promise me you’ll help T’Challa.”

M’Baku nods. “I gave my word. Besides, it looks well for the Jabari to be the good guys. Show up that Border Tribe, hm? Hanuman’s children will keep Wakanda safe. Though I still think you’re waving a red rag at a rhino by opening our borders.”

Shuri climbs over the couch back and flops down beside him. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“We shall see, girl,” sighs M’Baku. “We shall see.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: Shuri and M’Baku, snark. I loved exploring the Wakandan setting. They both have a point. The battle at the end of Infinity War takes place in Wakanda, and Shuri’s tech can’t save them all. Shuri’s creepy clock is inspired by the Corpus Clock in Cambridge, UK. A tokoloshe is a mischievous water sprite from Zulu/Xhosa mythology, a trickster with a nasty edge. Fanart by the fabulous Caroline.


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